Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief David Coatney's first 14 months on the job were a scorcher for his department.

The July 7 police ambush happened shortly after he was hired from Round Rock. Complaints about decaying fire stations were prevalent. Uncertainty over their pensions led to an exodus of firefighters and left more strain on those left behind to cope with upticks in emergency calls. And in May, a firefighter was shot on the job and nearly died.

But for all that has gone wrong, association leaders, commanders and city officials have gushed about Coatney.

"He's an innovator. He comes with ideas for solutions, not just identification of problems," Assistant City Manger Jon Fortune said. "Chief Coatney, in my mind, is one of the top chiefs in the state, if not the country. And he didn't pay me to say that."

Coatney deflects the praise, saying he only has the "honor of orchestrating" a leadership team that shares his priorities of improved safety, training, technology, staffing models and mental and physical health for firefighters. Firefighter association leaders say Coatney, who worked his way through the ranks in San Antonio, has also so far managed to buck the department's long-pervasive, change-resistant mantra: "We've always done it this way."

"I've heard that more in the 14 months I've been here than in my 32 years working in the fire service," said Coatney, who learned from an outsider chief in San Antonio.

Coatney has pushed his commanders to come up with ideas and look to other cities for better ways of doing things.

The chief has reorganized the department and added staff dedicated to safety. His commanders are trying to reshape EMS staffing in light of a nearly 20 percent increase in call volume in the last five years. And he has used flexible peak-demand units to help reduce the burden on paramedics who were running from call to call with little downtime.

And under Coatney's watch, the department began officer development and incident command training. Previously, fire officials relied mostly on informal apprenticeships to gain leadership experience.

His administration has also zeroed in on mental and physical health, such as looking into ways to prevent cancer possibly caused by carcinogens from fighting fires. They are also working with the Dallas Police Department to create a psychological assistance program to deal with stress.

The chief has impacted the department in small ways, allowing firefighters to wear shorts, even though he doesn't like them personally.

"But I don't have to work when it's 105 degrees outside," Coatney said.

Coatney said nothing he does matters if he doesn't take care of his people first. That philosophy and his cool, steady demeanor helped win him the job last year over four internal candidates, who each had support inside and outside City Hall, and two outsiders.

Two of those internal candidates have since left the department, but Coatney named one of them, Assistant Chief Ted Padgett, his chief of staff.

Padgett said that working for Coatney has been a pleasure, and that the department had rested on its laurels for too long.

"I've worked for a lot of chiefs over the years, but I'd never really worked for a leader before," Padgett said.

Armando Garza of the Dallas Hispanic Fire Fighters Association said Coatney "has just blown us all away" and helped morale.

Former Dallas-Fire Rescue Chief Eddie Burns said the department he once led might be more receptive to changes now after the preventable 2013 line-of-duty death of Stanley Wilson — a deputy chief blamed "cultural indifference" to safety and protocol — galvanized firefighters. The death led then-Chief Louie Bright III to create a group that made several recommendations on how to reshape that culture.

Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief David Coatney has pushed his commanders to come up with ideas and look to other cities for better ways of doing things.

(Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer)

David Coatney, Dallas Fire and Rescue Chief, talks to the media about the firefighter shooting as T.C. Broadnax, city manager, left and Mike Rawlings, Mayor of Dallas, listen on Monday, May 1, 2017, at Dallas City Hall.. (Irwin Thompson/The Dallas Morning News)

(Irwin Thompson/Staff Photographer)

New Dallas Fire Chief David Coatney (right) shakes hands with Battalion Chief Cameron Creager after a press conference announces Coatney's new position at Dallas City Hall in Dallas on June 6, 2016. Coatney will begin his position on July 13, 2016. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News)

(Rose Baca/Staff Photographer)

Dallas Fire Chief Louie W. Bright III, spoke during the memorial service for Dallas Fire-Rescue Officer William Scott Tanksley at the Performing Arts Center in Terrell, Texas on Monday, February 17, 2014. Scott Tanksley, 40, fell to his death last Monday when he was knocked from the shoulder of an icy Spur 408 overpass while assisting motorists involved in a weather-related accident. (David Woo/The Dallas Morning News)

But Bright's four-year tenure was defined by piecemeal changes and status quo stability — a quiet reprieve from the divisions that developed during Burns' five years at the helm. After coming from Fort Worth in 2006, Burns received blowback internally for his efforts to reshape Dallas Fire-Rescue as a "world-class" department. And many firefighters didn't relate to Burns' management style — trouble that hasn't come up under Coatney.

Burns, who has had lunch with Coatney, said anyone pushing change will likely receive pushback at some point if some resentment isn't already boiling under the surface.

"Human behavior is a powerful thing," Burns said. "I wish him well. I hope he gets all that change that he's putting forth."

Padgett said the department does have people who "throw rocks" at any chief's decisions, and Garza said he has heard some resistance at fire stations from some of the older firefighters. But they said Coatney also has the people skills to sell his ideas to the rank-and-file and manage big personalities in the department.

Coatney and his command staff are known to visit fire stations frequently and help out at fire scenes in small ways. Padgett said Coatney's enthusiasm for the job is genuine.

"He's a big kid that loves the fire service, and we're all the same way," Padgett said.

Dallas Fire Fighters Association President Jim McDade said "knowing that somebody understands what we're doing and listens to us" has helped.

Coatney also read through all the department's previous line-of-duty death reports and has pushed to implement their recommendations, which largely went unheeded under previous administrations.

Jenny Wilson, Stanley Wilson's widow, said she is fine with Coatney, although she wonders if he only told her what she wanted to hear when they met. But, she said, her sense is that, "all in all, he wants to do what is best for the department."

McDade said Coatney will still have plenty of challenges ahead. The stranglehold that the synthetic drug K2 holds over homeless people downtown has added stress on the department. Firefighter mental health and alcoholism remain problematic — a firefighter's recent suicide after a DWI shook the department — and some are overworked as they grab abundant overtime shifts to help pay the bills, McDade said.

Coatney also has been tasked with hiring 241 firefighters in the next fiscal year and implementing a long-awaited priority dispatch system. The system allows the department to give a scaled-down response to non-life-threatening calls and alleviate the burden on EMS.

And now that the pension mess has settled down, firefighters' critical eyes could turn back toward the department's operations.

But Dallas Fire-Rescue made out well in the budget and bond process, and Coatney appears to be well-liked by council members and city leaders. McDade said he appreciates that Coatney has a vision and is making strides.

"We've got a long way to go, but we're going to get there," McDade said. "Guys, as they spend more time with him, believe we're going to get to where we need to be."